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Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

Azurous

After passing on Gorlon’s message Azurous listening to Lokan Hilston’s speech making sure to memorise all the names. Hearing Trahone’s question he replies “Just being in different collages dose not mean we cant help each other, good question about the difference between the collages though.”

Following the crowd out he continues “We probably get to chose given the amount of freedom they seem to be giving us. As to what we should do, I intend to finish looking around then get some practice at spell casting in before resting in preparation for tomorrow.”

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

Atan

Atan had tuned out most of the chancellor's speech, but casually counted the names as they were read. When the list ended well short of the available space in the dormitory, he smiled to himself. He wasn't sure what use the extra rooms would be put to, but looking around his fellow students, he was sure if the college didn't come up with something, they would.

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

Minya Istaya, Elf Evoker

Minya became more and more excited as the chancellor spoke. By the time he finished, she was practically bouncing up and down in her seat. The university sounded very promising; it even seemed as if her training would move with what old Master Fangandaya would call "indecent haste and a lack of respect for tradition." Good!

She noted the names of the various deans and department heads carefully, trying to memorize faces to go with the names. When the class was dismissed, she bounced to her feet and hustled out the door. Minya intended to become completely familiar with the arcane college building before morning, even if it meant missing dinner. She walked over to the building and began exploring.

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

Dean Hilston turns to Emmis. "Yes, I created that indeed, and I consider it one of my best works. There were no models for this, although I consulted some drawings in the library. The sculpture is merely a symbol for the eternal fight of all responsible mages against evil. If you come to my advanced class next year, we will cover sculpturing realistic illusions in some detail."

The librarian ***** his head at Liams question. "By-laws? Those are simple: The chancellors word is the law here." He thinks for a minute. "If that's what interests you, I could show you a copy of the treaty between the crown and the chancellor that established this university and set its status in relation to Cormyr."

On the next morning, you assemble for your first classes. You are introduced into your respective schedules; everybody has to take Arcane Theory, which takes place in the same auditorium as the chancellors speech and has the largest audience of any lecture, Arcane Applications, and a secondary subject from the catalog offered by the College of Mundane Lore. The Wizards of the Arcane College all take Arcane Spells, the various mages of the College of Universal Magic some equivalent. Apart from that, you are free to choose among the various lectures and more experimental classes offered by any institute.

The first lectures mostly cover things you already know, but tries to build them systematically on each other and offers you a new perspective on the basics of your field. The material gets harder after the first season and even those not used to it have to work to keep up. After the second season, you are being tested on your three major classes. Each exam takes two hours, and while you answer the first questions easily, the second half of the test is very challenging, introducing topics new to you and asking you to apply what you learned to it. Many of your fellow students walk out of the room with hanging shoulders, but the other two are no easier than the first one. In the warm evening, many of you sit frustrated outside of the dorm, holding a bottle of mead or thanking Lirt for his generosity.

On the next morning you go to your arcane theory class as usual. Towards the end, someone knocks at the door to the auditorium, and you are surprised to find dean Hilston entering the room. He addresses you all: "You have all studied very hard for these exams. You spent long hours bent over books or discussing problems from your classes. Now, I believe that there is more to a mage than book-learning. Nothing can replace practical experience." The lecturer nods in agreement. "So next week, you will all leave this campus to gain some. We have put together three groups of students who will go on this field trip together. Learning to work in a team will be another result of this experience. As mages, you are very specialized and you work best as part of a goup, where everybody can contribute according to his strengths and where his weaknesses are covered by his comrades. You will not be accompanied by senior mages, so you will learn to rely on yourselves and not look to others for guidance. The first group consists of

You will meet tonight at six here in this auditorium. Your advisors will be able to answer all your questions. Thank you for your attention. Please continue."

He leaves the auditorium The lecturer declares the lesson over, due to the ensuing discussions and speculations on what all this is about.

In the evening, you meet with dean Bighat in the common room on the ground floor of the alchemical lab building. You all sit down in comfortable chairs, and he starts to explain."As you have no doubt been told in your lectures, magical components are often unnecessary for spellcasting. This does not mean that they cannot be helpful at all. Some creatures accumulate magic within their bodies which can be used to augment spells. One such creature is the shocker lizard, whose skin can be used advantageously as a component in spells that employ electrical energy. Several of these creatures live in the Hullack Forest, and I want you to go there and bring some of them back here.

I have booked passage for you on a merchant ship that passes by the forest, but after you are dropped off there, you are on your own. Don't worry, if there is an emergency, you can use these." He hands you two wooden rods marked with arcane symbols. "Each of them contains a single teleport spell for up to five people. If you hold hands and break it, you will be transported back to the campus. Don't form a circle or more than five people, I don't know what would happen then. Use it only in an emergency, or you will have to refund the department for it."

"You would do good to do some research before heading out. The day after tomorrow will be a free day, so you can go to Suzail and buy whatever you need for the expedition. Do you have any questions?"

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

Azurous

Having had problems in the exams due to his haphazard training Azurous was relived to learn they would be working in the field for a time.

He listens to dean Bighat’s instructions and considers what equipment he would need, I hate giving up gold, can always get more was the comforting reply from Scrya. And what spells were likely to be most useful, given the number of us we should be able to cover more or less everything. Something occurs to him “Are there any especially dangerous or aggressive creatures in Hullack Forest?” while waiting for a reply he dredges his own knowledge.

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

Lirt

Lirt scribbles notes in his little book of the names of his new partners in the field. he then scribbles some more calculations, he raises his hand About how long are we supposed to be abroad? In days?

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

Bighat seems to think in response to Nazeems question. "The forest is about 240 miles from here by water and about 150 miles by land. That means over one week to get there and roughly one to get back here again. Then you need some time to find the lizards, so I'd calculate at least three weeks, plus maybe one for safety."

He smiles at the next question. "You should have some trouble bringing them back alive. The skin is enough, and you don't have to skin it professionally in one piece if you don't know how to do that. And yes, there are more than enough dangerous creatures there, better get some information on them."

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

Epsun

The young archivist nodded thoughtfully, allowing the eagerness of others to ask the immediately obvious questions. Taking his leave, he walked back to his room and began to gather his belongings together. Leaving the less obviously useful notebooks behind, he carefully wrapped his notes from his Magical Theory and Beasts of Magic classes, as well as his prayerbook. In addition, he took his breastplate and weapons from the corner of the closet where they had been carefully stored during the term. After the meeting, he left for the library to research what he could.

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

Minya

The evening after the exams Minya dragged herself back to her room and huddled under the covers. She skipped dinner and the "beer fest", and left her bed again only long enough to lock Cerpe out of the room. Any attempts at communication were met with silence.

Minya slept in the next morning, missing breakfast as well. It took a lifelong respect for learning to force her to dress, albeit haphazardly, and wend her way to the classroom. She arrived uncharacteristically late and huddled in a seat in the back corner, far from her usual second row center. After a few minutes she sat up and took out her books, the habit of long years taking over.

When Dean Hinton arrived and began talking about a field exercise, Minya turned to a fresh page and began making notes. She wandered over to the library and searched for any information about past student excursions, stopping only when Miriel threw her out and sent her to dinner.

She was one of the last to arrive at the evening meeting, and barely managed to get there before Dean Bighat. She took notes of what he said and the other questions, finally asking a few of her own.

"Dean, is the merchant vessel putting us off at a village or just beaching on the river? Will it wait for us, or do we have a scheduled rendezvous for our return voyage? Will we be provided with a mule or are we to pack the skins out in our backpacks?" She waited until the last question had been answered, making notes as she listened.

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

"Well yes, goblins and orcs can always be encountered when you stray too far from civilization. I'm afraid you will have to provide your equipment yourselves, there are no funds intended for that. Is that a problem?" He looks at Liam.

"The ship will only drop you off. You have to provide your own food, and after that you are on your own. How you accomplish your task and get back here is entirely up to you. If you want to buy a mule or horses, we might be able to negotiate with the captain of the ship to take them on board, too."

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

Lirt

Lirt sits through rest of the meeting with the Dean. He then goes back to his room to pack and get ready. The next morning he goes through his classes like clockwork. After the classes he rushes back to the kitchen of the dorm where his micro-brewery has been set-up for some time now. Not being addressed necessarily in the by-laws or the contract with the governement didn't mean that brewing was allowed or not on campus, but Lirt didn't want to break rules or get into trouble. He was very careful about his brewing activities. Only using beer to ease the stress at the end of the day and never making enough to really make a party go too far.

He goes into the kitchen first and looks in on the current brewing projects. Deciding that he needs to unleash some of the unfinished beers into the drain and cleaning up his area. He sets a few barrels of nearly done brew to the side, marking them as "Early Morning Brew". He checks on the 2 barrels of finished brews, marking them as Lirt's Latest XXII and XXIII respectively. He makes notes in his notebook/spellbook, as to the exact composition and recipe of the brew. He then takes all of the early stocks and mashes in the works and hauls them out to the cesspit for disposal. He harvests all of his yeasts and sets them aside for later. Lastly he goes through all his glassware and cleans it, with the help of an unseen servant and packs it into the cupboards for storage. The only evidence of his brewery is the few marked barrels and the yeast jars.

Lirt takes the jars of yeast into the alchemy labs to find one of his favorite teachers, along with the last small cask of beer from the previous months brewing. He asks the master of alchemy and herbalism if he can keep the yeast for him, and if he could possibly see about finishing this last cask of beer "so it won't go sour" while Lirt is away for a month or so.

Beer responsibilities taken care of Lirt goes back to the room late and packs up his meager possession for the trip, planning on taking along the 4 barrels of beer if possible. Or trading one of the barrels to a mule trader for an animal.

OOC- If anywhere in this process someone interupts or needs Lirt for a meeting he will pause in his work and come back to it. Beer can be patient but not for more than a day.

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

Nazeem Sural
Nazeem nods silently, and scribbles in his notebook, before looking up at his turban and tapping it with his pen.

"Not now, Max! Can you not see I am asking about something very important?" he hissed at his turban. It moves again, almost comically, as if to accentuate the fact that whatever was inside was responding.

"What? Yes, of course it is very important! Would you prefer to be stuck in the middle of nowhere without any food?"

The turban moved again.

"Then be quiet and we can go to the cafeteria later."

The turban moved a little once more, then stayed silent.

"Better." Nazeem looked back to the professor. "So how much are we expected to bring back?"

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

Azurous

After dean Bighat answers all the questions and dismisses them Azurous return to his room and reviews his small horde of gold. When the free day comes he heads to Suzail to purchase basic survival gear, a small crossbow and a dagger, even if we can blast through most enemies with magic I world rather have a backup.
He then arranges for two weeks worth of trail rations to be ready on the day of departure. I can keep myself in food well enough in the wild but I cant feed a group that large, Scrya points out that maybe others are predators but nether want to rely on that.

Before they leave Azurous makes sure to ask all of the people in his group what spells they can and cannot cast. So he can better prepare his own in the coming weeks.

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

Trahone

During the entire meeting with the dean, Trahone sits quietly and listens. I hope this exercise can improve my grades from those exams. A shiver runs up his spine from the memory of taking them. Thankfully no one notices. After the meeting, Trahone returns with Azurous back to their room. He opens up his closet and pulls out his armor and spear. He then the rest of the evening sharpening his dagger, spear, and crossbow bolts. He and Azurous have a pleasant conversation talking about everything, from shocker lizards to known spells to girls.

After classes the next day, Trahone decides that he needs to search for something different than the usual means. He decides to go and talk to Dean Bighat. If his discussion ends in a failure, he then makes the needed arangements for the trip.

Azurous

Spoiler

Show

You can look at the warmage spell list to see Trahone's spells. He knows all the spells for the levels he can cast.

Mal: "Well they tell you: never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious."

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

"The skins of two or three such creatures should be sufficient, but he won't be punished if you bring back more. You will be required to write a report on your expedition, but there will be no grades. This is either pass or fail, but no team has ever failed." He winks at you.

"Well, if there are no further questions... oh, i almost forgot. The guards are going to the archery range in the afternoon the day after tomorrow. If you come back from Suzail before the 4th hour, you can join them and get some practice and maybe even advice if you ask nicely. The fourth-day is free so you can go equip yourselves, and on the other days the lecturers will be forgiving if you don't show up. Usually they cover only light topics in this week, things that are not essential for their class. I know that lecturer Adams will skip scroll-writing and dedicate this week to alchemy and show some colorful experiments." He leans back in his chair, smiling inwardly.

"That would be all then. You can always come back if you have more questions. If not, I'll see you to your ship on the next first-day."

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

Minya Istaya

Originally Posted by Irrealist

"Well yes, goblins and orcs can always be encountered when you stray too far from civilization. I'm afraid you will have to provide your equipment yourselves, there are no funds intended for that. Is that a problem?" He looks at Liam.

"The ship will only drop you off. You have to provide your own food, and after that you are on your own. How you accomplish your task and get back here is entirely up to you. If you want to buy a mule or horses, we might be able to negotiate with the captain of the ship to take them on board, too."

Minya stood up and spoke. "Sir, with all due respect, I have no intention of going into the forest to starve. I do not have the funds to purchase forty days of food, nor do I have the strength to carry 50 pounds of food and water in addition to my spellbook, my weapons, and other necessary gear to sustain life in the wild. I believe that you may, in fact, be testing our willingness to act blindly without thinking. I prefer to think."

"I am willing, eager even, to test my meager knowledge. I am happy to join my fellow students on this expedition; they seem as excited at the prospect as I feel. But our price for fetching back this spell component for you is sufficient food and pack animals to make this task something other than a test of our ability to endure hunger." She looked nervous at her defiance, but determined.

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

Dean Bighat seem a little taken aback by your reaction, gut he recovers quickly. "Why don't you sit down first, young lady." He waits a moment until you have done so. "I can assure you that I am not trying to send you to your certain death." He holds up a hand to keep you from interrupting him. "Now let me address your points. First you claim that you don't have the strength to carry this much, yet a few seconds later you already provide a solution to this apparent obstacle. So it seems it comes down to the precious metals. Now while I do not think you are in the place to demand gold from the university for something you perform as part of your education, a lack of gold should be no hindrance to your education. You can ask our cooks to come up with some rations, although I am not sure if they can provide with food for the entire time. So I will make you an offer. If you agree to write a few scrolls for me in your free time after you come back, I will give you as much money as you need to purchase equipment now. He sighs. Oh yes, I know. You want exact numbers. Fine. My offer is ten gold pieces for a scroll of comprehend languages, and another ten for a scroll of mage armor. Materials will of course be provided to you. If you don't know a spell, I can give you a book to look it up. 20 gold should be enough for the rest of the food and the rent of a mule. Oh, and before I forget it: The captain will drop you off at a small village, but I can't recall its name."

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

Minya Istaya

Minya sat down as directed, a bit puzzled but obedient. Maybe that's my problem? What means one thing at home means something different here? I suppose I will figure it out, eventually. She nodded at Dean Bighat's offer and tried to inconspicuously indicate enthusiasm.

Later, after the meeting, she walked over to the kitchens and asked to speak to the Head Cook. "Hello, um, you probably know the firsters are going on expeditions next week. Anyway, we need food for a month and I know most of us didn't bring enough cash to buy that much trail food. So, um, Dean Bighat suggested I talk to you about rations?" she asked, hopefully. "Maybe we could work out a deal for enough for everybody? I doubt there's anything you need that a firster can help you with, but I'm open to suggestions."

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

The door to the kitchen opens, and a large, middle-aged woman wearing an apron stands in the door. Behind her, you can see a bustle of activity. Dinner is just being served. "Oh, I'm afraid the head cook is busy. Maybe I can help you?" She listens to your request, then takes you by the shoulders and pulls you firmly inside. "You poor girl. Here have a seat, and eat something first." She guides you to a chair and presses a large bowl of hot soup and half a loaf of bread into your hands. "I can't believe they would make you go all alone into the wild and not give you anything to eat. Go on, you can eat it, you look like you need it.", she encourages you, pointing to a spoon on the table in front of you. "You can take the rest to your dorm, and there's more if you're still hungry after that." She looks at you and smiles as you hesitantly guide the first spoonful to your mouth. "We have some dried meat, and cheese, and bread. And fruit of course. Mmmh. Do you like cabbage? When are you leaving? I am sure we can prepare you something, but it won't last for four rides. How many are you?"

Re: Pass on what you have learned IC

Nazeem Sural"I am failing to see how this is supposed to assist our education. But I am yet to fully comprehend the ways of a wizard. Very well. I have my own purse from father's last letter. Good day, Mr. Bighat."

Nazeem stands, bows curtly but respectfully, and follows the others from the room.

Spoiler

Show

No time to continue at present - I'll post again ASAP with what he does later.